Why Christian Pulisic is fit for his country but not for Chelsea
Chelsea new number 10 Christian Pulisic picked up in the warmup against Burnley didn’t appear too serious at first – he was on the verge of playing, then limped off just before kickoff.
It looked precautionary more than anything, and there were suspicions he might be back to face Rennes in midweek – or at the very latest to face Sheffield United a week later.
As it’s turned out, he didn’t play in either game, and the hints from Frank Lampard in his press conference were that the problem was worse than initially suspected.
So why has the US star been called up for his national team this week then? Football.London have quotes from their coach, Gregg Berhalter who explains a little more:
“I really see it as a young player who is just adapting to the demands of a different game, a different schedule,” the coach commented.
“When you get injured, when you have a muscle injury, it takes you a while to get fully fit and recover and this is part of his recovery process.
“I have no doubt that he’s going to be a player that is fit for a very long period of time when he gets through this period.
“Christian is in camp and is listed as day-to-day,” he concluded.
“Day to day” is American-speak for almost fit, being monitored each day to see if he’s ready. We would be very disappointed if he ends up playing for his country having not really got into gear for Chelsea yet this season though.